KEYS TO A GREAT DIET by Suzanne MacDonald

carefully with these forms of protein.

There are other ways to obtain your body's proteins needs with

fewer fat calories. Soy protein is the highest quality plant

protein available. It is a great source for the amino acids your

body needs as well as the antioxidants that help maintain healthy

cells. Soy protein does not have the high fat calories, and is

long acting and slowly metabolized (helping you to keep feeling

full). Some high-protein, low calorie drinks can help meet these

protein needs as well as being an enjoyable food source.

So what happens if you don't eat enough protein? This is a very

important point because many people don't even come close to

meeting their daily protein requirements!

When your body doesn't get sufficient protein you can experience

food cravings, fatigue, moodiness, depression, poor memory, and

poor sleep. Further, you can find yourself out of shape and with

excess fat. Your body may even steal protein from your muscles

and organs, including the heart! Over time, your metabolism may

slow down and you may even be at increased risk for a variety

of diseases.

The second key element of designing a healthy weight management

program is to know your resting metabolic rate (RMR). This is

the number of calories your body burns while at rest per day. If

you eat 500 calories less per day than your resting metabolic

rate, you will lose about 1 pound a week. If you eat more than

your RMR, and you don't exercise to burn off those excess calories,

then you will gain weight.

When designing your weight management program it is generally

considered unhealthy for women to consume less than 1200 calories

a day and for men, 1800 per day. As a woman if your resting

metabolic rate is 1700 calories or less, you will need to consider

exercise as part of your weight loss regime in order to see results

in the first week or two.

Armed with these two pieces of information you will be able to

assess many of the faddish diets that abound and cut through the

diet-hype. Of course, there are many other aspects of healthy

weight loss, but these two principles are cornerstone to building

a healthy program that will enable you to sustain long term weight

loss.

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BIO:

Suzanne is a weight loss and nutrition mentor. She is dedicated to helping others lose weight and take control of their own health through good nutrition. For a FREE weight loss profile and survey go to http://fitandtrim.net/?refid=AboutAuthors-24562 or for more information go to http://www.fitandtrim.net/shoponline

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